Excerpt:
...Raw in details and viscerally effective, the drawing
shows a desperate man being attacked by a police dog
as he tries to hide under an old clapboard house. In
the foreground, cropped at the shoulders by the edge
of the poster board, an anonymous police officer points
a pistol towards his head. While his crime is unknown
and emotions toward the mauled suspect may be mixed,
the scene tells a vivid story of horror and humiliation.
‘I don’t really have to make any of this up – I used
to be able to see or hear about things like this standing
on a corner in Gert Town,’ says Roy Ferdinand, who has
lived most of his life on the New Orleans streets he
shows in his art.
187 Pure, 2000, 40 x 32
inches, pen, ink markers, and water colour on board, courtesy
FocalArt Gallery, La Jolla, CA.